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Monday, November 28, 2011

Clearing The Decks

This is what the design wall looks like this week.

In fact, the whole studio is looking a little sparse right now; every now and then I begin to realize that all the pretty eye candy scattered around my creative space- completed art pieces, experimental work, sketched studies- is no longer inspiring me but is, in fact, beginning to hold me back. It's the "Oh, you're all so pretty, I don't need to work when I can just look at you!" habit that an artist can easily develop if they fall too in love with their own creations. So when I start to ignore the rational, dispassionate, essential art critic inside of me who helps me define and refine my technique, and start to believe that every silly scrap of work is precious and whole unto itself (even when the art critic knows better), it's time to put everything away and make room for new ideas and new inspiration.

Now that all the work of the past six months is safely tucked away in closets and storage spaces throughout the house, it is both sobering and refreshing to walk into a studio that is not only clean, but mostly bare of past accomplishments.